Cosmetic refill for applying a hair product

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a cosmetic refill ( 20 ) intended to be inserted in a removable manner into a housing in a system ( 2 ) for treating the hair, comprising: —a hair product reservoir comprising an opening, —a porous application member ( 26 ) extending partially into the reservoir through the opening, the application member ( 26 ) being fixed in the reservoir when the refill ( 20 ) is used.

The present invention relates to a cosmetic refill for applying a hairproduct intended for use in a hair treatment system. The invention alsorelates to a hair treatment system comprising a refill of this type andto a method for treating the hair using such a system.

PRIOR ART

U.S. Pat. No. 8,561,620 describes a cosmetic refill comprising a porousapplication member soaked with product. A refill of this type does notallow as constant an application of hair product as desired during itsuse. The amount of product deposited on the hair in fact decreases veryrapidly in step with the number of uses of the refill.

International applications WO 2014/064660 and WO 2015/097625 disclosecosmetic refills allowing the application of a hair product which have areservoir containing the product and a porous application memberseparate from the reservoir, the product being conveyed from thereservoir towards the application member by means of a pump. Refills ofthis type are fairly complex and expensive to produce owing to thepresence of the pump.

Likewise, patent application US 2009/0025247 discloses a hair productrefill containing a reservoir and a porous application member, thelatter being partially immersed in the reservoir and coming into contactwith the hair during use of the device. The supply of product to theapplication member tends to vary as a function of the orientation of therefill, which may be detrimental to the uniformity of the result. Thereis a need for a hair product refill that is easy to manufacture and touse and that allows a quality of application of hair product that isrelatively constant over time.

SUMMARY

According to a first of its aspects, the invention responds to this needwith the aid of a cosmetic refill intended to be inserted in a removablemanner into a housing of a system for treating the hair, this refillcomprising:

-   -   a hair product reservoir that has an opening,    -   a porous application member extending partially into the        reservoir through the opening, the application member being        fixed in the reservoir when the refill is used.

The fact that the application member is unable to move in the reservoirmakes it possible to have an application member with a position in thereservoir that is the same irrespective of the level of hair product inthe reservoir or the pressure exerted on the application member when thehair product is applied to the hair. Thus, the amount of productdelivered when treating the hair is, to all intents and purposes,independent of the orientation of the refill. Application of the hairproduct by the application member is therefore more easily controllableand reproducible. Moreover, the fact that the application member isunable to move lowers the risk of hair product leaking out at thereservoir opening.

Preferably, the refill comprises a body comprising a cavity forming thereservoir, the hair product being preferably in a liquid form.

Preferably, the application member extends into the reservoir over theentire height of the latter, advantageously bearing on the bottom of thereservoir. This enables the application member, irrespective of theposition of the refill, to be in contact with the hair product containedin the reservoir and to always be supplied with hair product.

Preferably, the application member extends over only a portion of thewidth of the reservoir.

Preferably, the application member extends over entire length of thereservoir.

Preferably, the application member has at least two opposite sidesextending at least partially into the reservoir and at least partiallyin contact with the hair product contained in the reservoir. The factthat there are two opposite sides in contact with the hair productpermits a larger contact surface area between the hair product and theapplication member and a more uniform supply to the application member.

The application member may be made from any material capable ofconveying the product by means of capillary effect.

Preferably, the application member is rigid enough to retain its form atthe time of application. This makes it possible, in particular, to avoida pump effect, which is undesirable.

Preferably, the application member is made from a sintered material, inparticular a plastics, preferably thermoplastics, frit, for example apolyolefin and in particular a PE frit, for example a frit sold by PorexCorporation under reference XS-49010.

Preferably, the application member is molded. This enables it to have awide range of possible forms.

Preferably, the application member has a substantially prismatic form,in particular a parallelepiped, especially a right parallelepiped. Sucha form is easier to produce.

Preferably, the application member has a rounded application surface inorder to facilitate application to the hair.

The porosity of the application member, defined by the ratio of thevolume of pores to the total volume of the material, may be between 0.05and 2, better still substantially equal to 0.4.

The application member may have a density of between 0.11 and 0.25g/cm³.

The mean pore size may be between 5 and 100 μm, better still between 20and 60 μm. This level of porosity allows good retention of the hairproduct in the application member, while still permitting a good supplyof hair product to the application member by capillary effect.Preferably, the porosity of the application member is chosen as afunction of the viscosity of the hair product such that, when theapplication member is oriented head downward, the application member issoaked with hair product but said product does not flow from theapplication member under gravity.

The thickness of the application member may be less than or equal to 3cm. Such a thickness means that the hair product can easily soak theapplication member to the core between two applications. When theapplication member is engaged in an elongate opening, the thickness ismeasured perpendicularly to the axis of the opening and to thelongitudinal axis of the application member.

The hair product may be an anhydrous or aqueous composition.

Preferably, when the hair product in in oily form, the applicationmember is hydrophobic. This allows better distribution of the hairproduct in the application member when said product is in oily form.

Preferably, when the hair product in aqueous form, the applicationmember is hydrophilic. This allows better distribution of the hairproduct in the application member when said product is in aqueous form.

Preferably, the application member has a cross section greater than orequal to that of the opening. This makes it possible to achieve grippingof the application member in the opening and to avoid the hair productleaking out at the opening. This dispenses with the need for thepresence of an additional seal between these two elements.

Preferably, the applicator member is integral with the reservoir. Thismakes it possible to guarantee better sealing of the reservoir.

In a variant, the application member is mounted in the reservoir in aremovable manner. This makes it possible, when this is desirable, toeasily replace a worn-out application member without having to changethe reservoir.

The application member may simply be retained in the opening byfriction.

Preferably, the body of the reservoir is of substantially cylindricalform, in particular with a polygonal, for example rectangular, base, orpreferably with a circular base. With a circular-base cylindricalreservoir it is possible to have a greater amount of hair product whilestill having good contact between the product and the applicationmember, owing to the form of a funnel toward the application member.Distribution of the hair product in the application member is thusimproved, which optimizes the cost and environmental impact of therefill.

The volume of hair product contained in free form in the reservoir, i.e.apart from the product impregnating the application member, may be lessthan or equal to 100 ml.

The reservoir may comprise a hair-product filling aperture closed by aremovable stopper.

Preferably, the reservoir has no air-return port. The application memberis, in fact, sufficiently porous to allow air to return. In a variant,the reservoir has an air-return port.

A further subject of the invention is a system for treating the hair,comprising:

-   -   an apparatus for treating the hair, and    -   a refill, according to a first aspect of the above invention,        mounted on the apparatus.

Preferably, the apparatus comprises two arms that are able to moverelative to one another between a closed configuration for treating thehair and a spread configuration for engaging hair to be treated betweensaid arms, one of the arms comprising a housing, the refill beingarranged in a removable manner in the housing.

The arm opposite the arm on which the refill is arranged may have asteam outlet, and preferably also a comb.

Preferably, in particular when the intention is to straighten the hair,the apparatus comprises a heating element intended to come into contactwith the hair, and better still two heating elements, each arranged on arespective arm. This or these heating element(s) may each comprise aplate, made of a material that is a good conductor of heat, that definesa hot surface for contact with the hair, the temperature of said surfacebeing for example greater than or equal to 95° C., better still between90 and 230° C.

Preferably, product is applied to the lock of hair introduced into theapparatus prior to the application of steam and/or straightening by theheating element(s) and/or combing. Thus, the hair introduced between thearms can come into contact with the application member before beingexposed to the steam and to the heating elements while the lock is beingmoved between the arms of the apparatus.

Preferably, the apparatus for treating the hair according to theinvention is a straightener having flat heating elements, in particularwhich come into contact in the closed configuration of the arms.

A further subject of the invention is a method for treating the haircomprising the step consisting in applying a hair product to a lock ofhair using a system according to the invention, as defined above.

Preferably, the amount of hair product deposited in one application,exerting a pressure of 34 N and moving the applicator at a speed of 2cm/s over a standard 80 g/m² sheet of paper 27 cm long, is between 0.005g and 0.5 g.

The amount of hair product deposited with the refill in one application,exerting a pressure of 34 N and moving the applicator at a speed of 2cm/s over a standard 80 g/m² sheet of paper 27 cm long, may vary by upto 50%, better still 35%, even better 20%, from the amount of productdeposited between the first and the 75th applications.

The invention may be better understood from reading the followingdetailed description of non-limiting exemplary embodiments thereof andfrom examining the appended drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an example of a system for treatingthe hair,

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view on II-II in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an example of a refill,

FIG. 4 is a view along IV of the example of a refill in FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a graph representing the amount of hair product applied usinga refill according to example 1 described below,

FIG. 6 is a graph representing the amount of hair product appliedaccording to example 2 described below using a refill according to FIGS.3 and 4,

FIG. 7 shows a variant refill,

FIG. 8 is a graph representing the amount of hair product appliedaccording to example 3 described below using a refill according to FIG.7,

FIG. 9 shows another variant refill, and

FIG. 10 is a graph representing the amount of hair product appliedaccording to example 4 described below using a refill according to FIG.9.

In the rest of the description, identical or similar elements orelements having identical or similar functions bear the same referencesign. For greater conciseness, such elements are not described for allthe figures, and only the differences between the embodiments have beenindicated.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the handpiece 2 of an example of a system fortreating the hair according to the invention.

This handpiece 2 has two jaws 3 and 4 that are able to move relative toone another between a spread configuration (not shown) for introductionof a lock of hair between said jaws, and a closed configuration fortreatment.

The jaws 3 and 4 are carried by an upper arm 5 and a lower arm 6,respectively, which, in the example in question, are connected togetherat one end by a joint 8, the handpiece 2 thus forming tongs.

The upper arm 5 and lower arm 6 each preferably have a total length ofbetween 22 cm and 37 cm, preferably 31 cm, and define, between the joint8 and the jaws 3 and 4, respective half-handles 10 and 11 on which theuser can press in order to close the jaws 3 and 4 together.

An elastic return member (not visible) is preferably provided to returnthe jaws 3 and 4 to the spread configuration, this elastic return memberbeing, for example, a spring disposed around an axis of the joint 8.

The invention is not limited to a particular manner of connecting theupper arm 5 and lower arm 6 together, and the jaws 3 and 4 may berendered able to move in some other way without departing from the scopeof the present invention. However, the presence of a joint is largelypreferred for the ergonomics it provides.

The jaws 3 and 4 define between them a region for treating the hair,said region being intended to receive a lock of hair to be treated, thehandpiece 2 being moved along said region during the treatment, forexample in the direction from the root to the end of the hair.

In the example in question, the handpiece 2 is configured for applying ahair product, to treat the hair with steam and then to carry out a heattreatment on the hair by contact with two hot surfaces 15 and 16.

The direction D of movement of the handpiece 2 over the hair,illustrated in FIG. 4, is preferably substantially perpendicular to theupper arm 5 and lower arm 6.

The handpiece 2 is connected by a lead, in the example in question, to abase station (not shown) that is fixed during the treatment and isconnected to the mains.

This base station provides electric power to the handpiece 2 and alsoits supply of water for generating steam, and may also carry outadditional functions of processing electrical signals received from thehandpiece 2. The lead 18 that connects the handpiece 2 to the basestation may thus comprise various electrical conductors and a watersupply pipe.

A user interface (not shown in the figures) may be present on thehandpiece 2 so as to give the user for example the option of starting upcertain components thereof.

The hair product is applied by a refill 20 carried by one of the twoarms 5 or 6, in this case the upper arm 5 that comes into contact with apressing element 21. The latter may be removable.

As may be seen more particularly in FIG. 2, the refill 20 comprises abody 23, a reservoir 30 for hair product and a porous application member26 disposed so as to come into contact with the hair extending throughthe treatment region.

The refill 20 may be fixed to the arm 5 or 6 by any means, inparticular, as illustrated in FIG. 2, by sliding a rib of the body 23into a groove with a complementary shape.

The reservoir 30 opens toward the exterior via an opening 31 into whichthe application member 26 is inserted, along an insertion axis X, whilethe refill is being manufactured.

Examples of a body 23 are illustrated in more detail in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The body 23 may have the general form of an elongate rectangularparallelepiped on a longitudinal axis Z. In cross section, the body 23may, as illustrated in FIG. 2, have a rectangular form, partially openon one of its sides, in particular one of its smaller sides, so as toform an opening 31.

The body 23 comprises a front wall 38 and a rear wall 40 that areopposite one another and are connected by two side walls 34 and 36 andby a bottom 42. The walls 34 and 36 have returns 44 toward the interior,defining between them the opening 31 for the passage of the applicationmember 26.

The internal cavity of the body 23 forms the reservoir 30.

The reservoir 30 has, for example, a width K, defined between the sidewalls 34 and 36, equal to approximately 10 mm, a length L on thelongitudinal axis Z equal to approximately 90 mm and a height H, definedbetween the bottom 42 and the opening 31, equal to approximately 20 mm.The reservoir 30 contains a hair product in liquid form.

The application member 26 is of substantially rectangularparallelepipedal form.

The application member 26 extends into the reservoir 30 via the opening31 over the entire height H of the reservoir, over only a portion of itswidth and over its entire length.

The height p of the application member 26 is thus greater than theheight H of the reservoir 30, its thickness e is smaller than the widthK of the reservoir 30 and its length is substantially equal to thelength L of the reservoir 30. The thickness e of the application member26 is substantially equal to, or even slightly greater than, the widthof the opening 31. The application member has a height k equal toapproximately 21 mm and a thickness e equal to approximately 3 mm.

The application member is in contact with the hair product contained inthe reservoir 30 via that portion of its larger opposite side faces 27and 28 that extends into the reservoir 30. Its upper surface 29 is incontact with the bottom 42 of the body 23.

The application member 26 extends outside the body 23 over a height mequal to approximately 1 mm.

The body 23 is made of thermoplastics, for example polybutyleneterephthalate (PBT), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyamide (PA),polypropylene, copolyester, in particular Tritan®, elastomer or amixture thereof, in particular a mixture of PBT and PET.

The application member 26 is made from a porous, hydrophobic sinteredmaterial, in particular from PE, for example Porex®, as defined earlier.The pore size is preferably between 20 and 60 μm.

Preferably, the refill 20 is produced such that the application member26 can be removed manually from the refill 20 via the opening 31.

The body 23 comprises comprises a hair-product filling aperture 48closed by a stopper 46. Such an aperture 48 makes it possible to fillthe reservoir 30 when it is empty without removing the applicationmember.

In the variant illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 9, the body 23 is ofsubstantially cylindrical form, with a circular base, the applicationmember 26 being introduced into an opening 31 of the cylindrical sidewall of the body 23, the circular walls of the ends of the body formingthe front and rear walls 38 and 40 of the refill 20. It may be possibleto remove at least one of the circular walls 38 and 40 in order to allowfilling of the reservoir 30.

In the variant illustrated in FIG. 9, the application member 26 has athickness e equal to approximately 5 mm and the refill 20 comprises aseal 50 in the opening 31 that makes it possible to guarantee the sealbetween the application member 26 and the edges of the opening 31.

EXAMPLE 1

In this example, the refill comprises a body that has a cavity and aporous application member filling the cavity. The application member isa non-woven porous member having a density substantially equal to 0.13g/cm³, having a length of 90 mm, for a height of 21 mm and a thicknessof 10 mm. The application member is soaked with hair product to thepoint of saturation.

The hair product introduced into the refill 20 is an anhydrous serumsolution.

The refill is mounted on the system of FIGS. 1 and 2 described above.

The system is closed at the end of a standard lock of hair having alength substantially equal to 27 cm and is moved along said lock at aspeed of 2 cm/s. This operation of applying the hair product to a lockof hair is repeated 75 times without changing or filling the refillbetween each operation and each time taking a fresh standard lock ofhair. Each lock of hair is weighed to ascertain the amount of hairproduct applied to it.

The graph according to FIG. 5 represents the amount of hair productapplied in each operation as a function of the number of times thesystem has been used on the standard locks of hair.

The amount of hair product applied varies greatly depending on thenumber of applications. Said amount is 0.45 g in the 7th operation andless than 0.05 g in the 75th operation. The variation in amount of hairproduct measured per lock is greater than 85%.

EXAMPLE 2

In this example, the refill 20 is as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The application member is a porous material made from hydrophobicpolyethylene having a mean pore size of 20 to 60 μm.

The hair product contained in the refill is the same as that inExample 1. The weight of hair product contained in the refill isapproximately 7.2 g.

The refill 20 is mounted on a system identical to that of Example 1.

The hair product is applied to standard locks identical to that ofExample 1 according to the same operating method as that of Example 1.

The graph according to FIG. 6 represents the amount of hair productapplied in each operation as a function of the number of times thesystem has been used on the standard locks of hair.

The amount of hair product applied is substantially constant between thefirst and the 75th operations. There is no observable significantdecrease, unlike in Example 1.

The amount of hair product measured is 0.064 g+/−0.02 g per lock. Thevariation in amount of hair product deposited per lock is less than 35%.

EXAMPLE 3

In this example, the refill 20 is as illustrated in FIG. 7.

The application member is identical to that of Example 2. The hairproduct contained in the refill is the same as that in Examples 1 and 2.

The weight of hair product contained in the refill is approximately 3.8g.

The refill 20 is mounted on a system identical to that of Examples 1 and2.

The hair product is applied to a standard lock identical to that ofExamples 1 and 2 and the same operating method is used.

The graph according to FIG. 8 represents the amount of hair productapplied in each operation as a function of the number of times thesystem has been used on the standard locks of hair.

The amount of hair product applied is substantially constant between thefirst and the 75th operations. There is no observable significantdecrease, unlike in Example 1.

The amount of hair product measured is 0.0126 g+/−0.0025 g per lock. Thevariation in amount of hair product deposited per lock is less than 20%.

EXAMPLE 4

In this example, the refill 20 is as illustrated in FIG. 9.

The application member is a porous material made from hydrophobicpolyethylene having a mean pore size of 20 to 60 μm.

The hair product contained in the refill is the same as that in Examples1 and 2.

The weight of hair product contained in the refill is approximately 3.4g.

The refill 20 is mounted on a system identical to that of Examples 1 and2.

The hair product is applied to a standard lock identical to that ofExamples 1 and 2 according to the same operating method.

FIG. 10 represents the amount of hair product applied in each operationas a function of the number of times the system has been used on thestandard locks of hair.

The amount of hair product measured is substantially constant betweenthe first and the 75th operations. There is no observable significantdecrease, unlike in Example 1.

The amount of hair product measured is 0.0364 g+/−0.0016 g per lock. Thevariation in amount of hair product deposited per lock is less than 5%.

Examples 2 to 4 above thus clearly show that the invention makes itpossible to obtain an application of hair product that is substantiallyconstant over time for at least 75 applications for treating locks.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above.

For example, the application member may have a form other than arectangular parallelepipedal form.

1: A cosmetic refill intended to be inserted in a removable manner intoa housing of a system for treating the hair, comprising: a hair productreservoir that has an opening, a porous application member extendingpartially into the reservoir through the opening, the application memberbeing fixed in the reservoir when the refill is used. 2: The refill asclaimed in claim 1, the application member extending into the reservoirover the entire height H of the latter, advantageously bearing on thebottom of the reservoir. 3: The refill as claimed in claim 1, theapplication member having at least two opposite sides extending at leastpartially into the reservoir and at least partially in contact with thehair product contained in the reservoir. 4: The refill as claimed inclaim 1, the application member being made from a sintered material. 5:The refill as claimed in claim 1, the application member being molded.6: The refill as claimed in claim 1, the application member having across section greater than or equal to that of the opening. 7: Therefill as claimed in claim 1, the application member being mounted in aremovable manner in the reservoir. 8: The refill as claimed in claim 1,the thickness of the application member being less than or equal to 30mm. 9: The refill as claimed in claim 1, the reservoir being ofsubstantially cylindrical form. 10: The refill as claimed in claim 1,the reservoir comprising a hair product filling aperture closed by aremoveable stopper. 11: A system for treating the hair, comprising: anapparatus for treating the hair, and a refill as claimed in claim 1,mounted on the apparatus. 12: A method for treating the hair comprisingthe step consisting in applying a hair product to a lock of hair using asystem as claimed in claim
 11. 13: The method as claimed in claim 12,the amount of hair product deposited in one application, exerting apressure of 34 N and moving the applicator at a speed of 2 cm/s over astandard 80 g/m² sheet of paper 27 cm long, being between 0.005 g and0.5 g. 14: The method as claimed in claim 12, the amount of hair productdeposited with the refill in one application, exerting a pressure of 34N and moving the applicator at a speed of 2 cm/s over a standard 80 g/m²sheet of paper 27 cm long, varying by up to 50% from the amount ofproduct deposited between the first and the 75th applications.